Home Depot: Prices Lower Since Transaction Fee Battle

NEW YORK (Credit.com) — Consumers who head to one of the nation's top home improvement retailers in the near future may notice the prices are lower.

After Home Depot (Stock Quote: HD) fought and won a major battle with large financial institutions over the fees it was charged to accept debit and credit card transactions – known in the payment industry as swipe or interchange fees – it saw its operating costs take a tumble, according to a report from American Banker. The victory over major banks came late last year when the Federal Reserve Board announced a rule that limited the amount banks could charge for a debit card transaction fee to just 24 cents per swipe, down significantly from the total that came from the fees that averaged approximately 3% of a total transaction's value.

Since the rules from the Fed took taking effect last October, Home Depot has lowered prices for some 3,000 products, a store executive says. He was also cautious in noting that these price drops were not the direct result of the regulation, though, but rather the overall savings on operating costs the company has enjoyed since.

"The money saved by the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protect Act of 2010 goes into the pool of savings, lowers our overall operating costs and allows us to reinvest in the business to lower prices," says Dwaine Kimmet, Home Depot's treasurer and vice president of credit, told the site. "We have absolutely lowered prices, but what I can't do is draw that direct correlation to Durbin."